


Color me free

by avengerskye



Category: Teenage Bounty Hunters
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Post-Season/Series 01 Finale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25980757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avengerskye/pseuds/avengerskye
Summary: Sterling feels like maybe she'll never be the same again.April is not sure if she wants to stay the same anymore.Maybe they can change together and finally be free.Post Season One Finale. Contains spoilers!
Relationships: Sterling Wesley / April Stevens
Comments: 74
Kudos: 412





	1. Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

_ Sterling… You're my daughter. _

The words still echo in Sterling's mind as her parents are finally driving them home. Her  _ parents _ … Can she even call them that now? Sterling's head is leaning against the window, silent tears freely falling on her cheeks. She's holding Blair's hand, but she can't bring herself to look at her. 

Her whole world just got totally shattered and this night couldn't have been worse. First, April broke her heart, stepped on it and flirted with Luke. Second, she got kidnapped by her crazy aunt. Third, her aunt's boyfriend proceeded to threaten her with a gun. Oh, and last but not least, turns out her aunt is actually her mother. 

The silent tears suddenly turn into sobs as her thoughts drift to all the secrets that have been revealed that night. She brings her free hand to her mouth, desperately trying to quieten the sobs escaping her. She understands she's doing a terrible job at it when Blair squeezes her hand and her mother turns to look at her with worried eyes.

They're speaking to her. Sterling knows they are, she can hear them. She doesn't wanna listen to them. She can't add whatever they'll say to what is already going on in her brain. So, without a word, Sterling covers both of her ears with her hands and closes her eyes. It doesn't really block much sounds, but she knows her family will get the message.

As soon as Blair and their mother see Sterling covering her ears they stop talking. They look at each other, both knowing there is no way to make Sterling listen to them at the moment. So, they just stop and the uncomfortable silence that was reigning in the car before Sterling's sobs comes back in full force. 

The first thing Sterling does when they get home is to run to her bedroom. She slams the door behind her and quickly locks it. Sterling wraps her arms around herself to try and give herself some comfort as her head falls into chaos. She looks everywhere in her room, and suddenly everything feels like a lie. She's been working so hard to keep up the perfect image of their family. Of course, she messed up sometimes, but she still tried. 

A chill invades Sterling, and it quickly makes her move. She goes straight to her bathroom and runs herself a warm bath. As soon as the tub is full of water she gets in, and sighs as the warmth envelops her. Sterling brings her knees to her chest and holds them there with her arms, unconsciously trying to make herself look as small as possible. She leans her forehead against her knees, all her emotions get out freely as the tears slide on her cheeks. For a moment, she wonders if she'll ever stop crying.

She realises she can't think like that, because that train of thoughts could take her down a really dark road. So after a moment of just sobbing, Sterling straightens her head and wipes her tears away. She takes several deep breaths to calm herself, and when she feels like it worked, even if it's just a little, she gets out of the tub. 

After getting dressed and pulling her hair in a loose ponytail, Sterling gets out of her room. She heads to Blair's room and quickly knocks on the closed door. When the brunette opens it, Sterling sees that her sister's been crying too. Without waiting, she pulls Blair in a bone crushing hug. 

"I love you." Sterling whispers in her sister's ear.

Blair starts crying again, but she holds onto Sterling tightly. 

"I-I love you too." 

They end up sleeping in the same bed that night. Cuddling as close as possible, Blair's hands holding the fabric of Sterling's shirt so tightly that her knuckles turn white.Sterling won't let what happened tonight change her relationship with Blair. They're sisters… no, they're twins. Nothing can change that.

*

Sterling has to argue with her parents on Monday morning on whether she'll go to school or not. A week ago, Sterling would have been delighted at the idea of skipping school  _ with _ her parents' approval. Now, her parents think she still needs time to recover from what happened, and Blair thinks so too. What they don't get is that Sterling is craving normality right now. Even if her new normal is made of her ex-boyfriend going out with her ex-girl… Was April even her girlfriend? 

She manages to convince them though… just to immediately regret her decision as soon as she gets to school. Everyone is looking at her with some kind of pity written all over their faces. 

Sterling adjusts the strap of her bag on her shoulder and looks down, avoiding people's eyes. 

_ They can't know. So, what is it about?  _ Sterling thinks as she opens her locker.

"Sterling!"

The girl's voice startles her. Sterling looks at the other girl, but she can't seem to remember her name.

"I am so sorry about what happened." The girl with dark hair says as she lays a hand on Sterling's shoulder.

The Wesley girl frowns as she's getting confused and maybe even a little worried.

"What?" Sterling blurts out.

"You know…" The girl raises an eyebrow, but when she sees Sterling looking blankly at her, she decides to keep going. Luke and April went on a date Saturday. They posted a selfie on Instagram. Oh, and Ezekiel confirmed it."

Sterling's heart skips a beat, and then she can literally feel it sink inside her chest. If she hadn't cried so much during the weekend, maybe she'd cry now. But she doesn't, no, instead she forces a little smile and grabs the book she was looking for inside of her locker.

"They can do whatever they want. It's none of my business."

She shuts the door of her locker closed a little more strongly than necessary, causing the girl next to her to jump. With one last fake smile, Sterling leaves the girl there and heads straight to her first class. Blair is quick to join her since they're sharing a Spanish class together. 

They're the first ones in the class. Blair sits down right behind Sterling, in her assigned seat. The class is filled with a comfortable silence until students start to walk in. Then, it's full of whispers. Sterling feels their stares, hears their words. At first, she tries to ignore them, she thinks it will pass, but then it suddenly gets worse. 

Sterling looks up, trying to understand why everyone got so loud, and she immediately ends up making eye contact with April's green eyes. It feels like the world stops around them for a little while. They hold each other's gaze, and Sterling is almost sure she sees tears build up in April's eyes, and maybe there's some in her own too. 

Their eye contact abruptly comes to an end when Luke slips his hand in April's, the short girl tears her eyes away from Sterling and gives him her attention. 

Sterling feels like she could be sick at any moment. So, she quickly gathers her things, and throws them all in her bag before rushing out of class. She almost gets to the doors leading outside of the school before she hears steps behind her. Sterling is about to tell Blair they can just go home, and that today was a mistake, when a hand gently grabs her arm. Sterling immediately winces when the gentle fingers make contact with her arm. She pulls herself free, gently rubbing her forearm to try and get rid of the pain.

Sterling barely has time to look up and realise it's not Blair that followed her before April rolls the sleeve of her button up shirt to expose the blue marks on her arm. Sterling quickly jerks her arm away from April's grasp, but the shorter girl isn't about to let this slip.

"What happened to your arm Sterl?" April says, her voice filled with worry. 

Sterling does her best to avoid the other girl's eyes. She turns around to keep walking, but April is right behind her. This time, April gently takes Sterling's hand to stop her. Sterling freezes and looks down at their joined hand, April does too, before quickly taking her hand back. Sterling's eyes fill with tears, tears she wasn't even aware she had left at this point.

"Please don't cry." April softly pleads.

Sterling huffs, and quickly wipes her eyes, getting rid of the tears building into them. 

"I won't cry for you." Sterling allows herself to say. "Not again."

April tightens her jaw, looks away and then nods. Sterling watches as the shorter girl quickly composes herself, and she can't help but be impressed by how fast April manages to push her feelings away. Soon, April's emotions seem to be gone, but Sterling knows better.

"Why do you have bruises on your arm?" April asks once more. 

"I hit it… on a doorknob." Sterling lets the lie escape her mouth and hopes it sounds convincing. 

By the way April looks at her, Sterling quickly understands she's a very bad liar. The shorter girl takes a step closer and tentatively reaches for Sterling's arm again. Gently, she takes it, giving Sterling all the time she'd need to protest or pull away. The Wesley girl doesn't though, she lets April take her arm, and almost feels like crying again when April's delicate fingers graze her skin.

"Sterling… This is a handmark." April says, her eyes never leaving the blue-ish marks.

Suddenly, Sterling feels defensive. "Why do you even care?" 

Their eyes meet and Sterling is surprised by the hurt she sees in April's. The Stevens girl looks taken aback for a moment, but her fingers stay gentle as she still lightly touches Sterling's arm.

"You know I care. Don't act like I don't." April says, her voice surprisingly soft.

Sterling takes a shaky breath, feeling guilty about being so defensive with April when the shorter girl is only trying to help and show that she still cares. Hesitantly, Sterling covers April's hand with hers and pulls it away from her arm.

"Okay, uh…" Sterling sighs and looks down. "Look, it's a complicated story. Can we just drop it? For now at least."

April draws her hands back, and looks at the space between them. She seems to think about what Sterling just said for a couple of seconds, then she lifts her head to look right into Sterling's eyes. Blue meets green, and Sterling swallows hard when she sees the determination in April's eyes.

"I'll drop it, but only if you meet me at Fun Zone after school."

Sterling is taken aback by April's request. She frowns, and avoids the shorter girl's eyes. She's reminded of a simpler time when she was the one asking this same thing.

"Why?" Sterling says, her voice suddenly smaller than ever.

April takes a deep breath to find the courage to say what she wanna say. Then, she starts walking towards the doors leading outside of the school, gesturing to Sterling to follow her. When they're outside, April turns around to face the taller girl again.

"Because I… I miss you. I know it's crazy because it's been like two days since we… parted ways, but I can't help it." April takes a step closer to Sterling, leaving little space between them. 

Sterling's breath hitches and she's about to take a step back when April gently takes her hands in hers. Now, she can't bring herself to pull back. 

"I also know that you… said you don't know if we can ever be together again, but please, meet me at Fun Zone after school." April asks again.

Sterling wishes she could say no, wishes April's pleading eyes didn't make her knees go weak… But she can't say no, and it feels like her knees could give in at any moment. She just wants to lean in and kiss April, here and now. Maybe it would make some of her pain disappear. Maybe she'd feel better. She knows she can't do that, of course she knows, but it doesn't mean that she doesn't crave it.

"I'll meet you at the Skee-ball tracks."

With that being said, Sterling walks past April, and heads to her car. By doing so, she misses the longing look April sends her way before walking back into school. 


	2. Relationships

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> So the wait was way longer than I wanted it to be! I'm sorry!
> 
> Oh... I didn't check for errors and probably will later today or even tomorrow. I'm sorry if there are a lot of them.

"Hey kid…" Bowser says before sitting down in front of Sterling. "How's the frozen yogurt?"

Sterling looks up at him, spoon still in her mouth. She doesn't answer, instead she just shrugs and scoops more yogurt. The man sighs and looks down, not really knowing what to tell this young girl he grew so fond of. Deep down, he knows nothing he'll say would really help her, but he still wishes he could offer her some comfort. 

"Thanks for letting me crash here today." The girl with dark blonde hair says quietly. "I didn't know where else to go."

He nods. "This is your place as much as it is mine."

There's a small smile on Sterling's lips when she hears those words. She nods, and looks back down at the frozen yogurt in her cup. Bowser stands up, and Sterling expects him to walk back to his office, but before doing so, the man gently places a hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him, and then he smiles and squeezes her shoulder. As he walks to his office, Sterling's smile grows a little. 

The Wesley girl eats three more cups of frozen yogurt that day, all of them are gifts from Bowser. She knows she probably ate her emotions that day, but seriously… who cares? During the day, she gets a couple of texts from Blair. She answers them with short sentences, one word or even just with emojis. Her parents call, but it goes straight to her voicemail. She does send them a quick text to let them know she's fine, but she ignores the twelve texts that her mother sends her after. 

An hour before she has to go to the Fun Zone, Sterling feels the nervousness kick in. She still has all these pleasant feelings whenever she thinks of April, but there's also a sting that comes with them now. It's crazy how their story was over before it even got a chance to have a start. 

Maybe it's for the best though. Mr. Stevens is already out of jail, and God knows what he'll do to Blair and her. April will probably hate her when she'll learn about what happened. When she'll understand that Sterling walked her father to jail. It's not like she feels bad about doing it. No. She did the right thing by sending him to jail. He cheated on his wife, hired a prostitute and then beat her up. What saddens her is the impact it had on April, and how potentially dangerous the man could be now that he's out. 

When Sterling walks into Fun Zone, she fixes her hair as a nervous habit. She goes straight to the Skee-ball tracks, and she's almost disappointed to not find April already there. Sterling looks at the tracks for a moment, pondering on if she should play or not. Just as she swipes her card to start the game, the girl with dark blonde hair hears quick steps behind her. She quickly straightens up and looks behind her. Sterling can't stop the small smile that plays on her lips when she's face to face with an "out of breath" April. The girl quickly gathers her hair in a ponytail as she's getting closer and closer to Sterling.

"I am so sorry, I know I'm late." April says as she comes to a stop next to Sterling.

The Wesley girl decides to put her attention somewhere else. She takes her first ball and makes it slide against the wooden track. It lends in the 40 points circle, and Sterling shrugs to herself. 

"I wasn't waiting for long." She says, keeping any emotion out of her voice.

"Good." April quietly says.

Sterling doesn't look back at the other girl. She decides to put all her attention on the Skee-balls in her hands and the score on the board. April's eyes stay on her for a long moment. The shorter girl has no idea of what she should do in this moment. So, after a while, she decides to just play too. They play side by side for a couple of minutes. When Sterling is done with her game, she doesn't start another one. She lets her eyes fall on April, and sure enough, she feels a wave of fondness go through her.

_ How did she get under my skin so quickly?  _ Sterling wonders as she bites her bottom lip.

April reaches for her last Skee-ball when suddenly Sterling can't hold back her words anymore.

"How was your date with Luke?"

Seeing April Stevens get embarrassed to the point of dropping the ball in her hands would have once filled Sterling with delight, but now it only makes her heart clench painfully. The shorter girl quickly gets the ball from the floor, and when she's standing straight again, her eyes stay glued on the ball. Her cheeks took a light pink color, and Sterling curses herself for thinking of how cute April looks in this moment.

"It was… okay. Luke is a nice guy." Aprils makes the ball slide on the wooden track, and waits until it scores to speak again. "I thought of you the whole time."

Sterling freezes for a couple of seconds, actually just long enough for April to gather the courage to look at her. Their eyes meet, and Sterling takes a step closer.

"Don't say that if you don't mean it."

"I mean it." April says confidently, looking Sterling right in the eyes. 

When April reaches for Sterling's hands, the taller girl takes a step back. She can't allow this right now. 

"Stop." She says firmly.

"Sterl-"

"No. I'm already broken, April. Please, I don't think I can take much more."

April's eyes go to her arms, and even though Sterling knows they are covered up, she still crosses them like it would help to hide the bruises on them. 

"Something happened to you this weekend." April says, her face expressing just how worried she is. 

Sterling takes a deep breath. "Nothing that concerns you."

"I-"

"If you're not into Luke, don't go out with him." Sterling says as a way to change the subject. "Like you said, Luke is a nice guy. He doesn't deserve to get his heart broken by a girl that could never love him. You don't wanna be with me because you're scared of coming out, and that's fine. But, don't play this game, April. You'll hurt a lot of people by doing that."

April seems a little shocked by Sterling's words at first, but as the Wesley girl keeps speaking, the other girl's face quickly fills with guilt. By the end of Sterling's short speech, April's head is low and she's no longer meeting the taller girl's eyes. 

"I don't wanna hurt anyone." 

"But you will if you keep doing what you're doing. You'll hurt me, Luke and  _ yourself _ ."

Sterling sees how April looks conflicted, and she can't really blame her. April's situation is not one she'd like to be in. The shorter girl still has her head hung low, and it saddens Sterling because looking into April's green eyes would be kind of nice right now. 

Sterling sighs. "I'll see you around school."

April doesn't try to make the other girl stay. She does whisper an "I'm sorry" as Sterling walks away, but it's not loud enough for the Wesley girl to hear it. 

* * *

Sterling walks into her house, and she's surprised to find her parents and sister sitting in the living room, anxiously waiting for her. Her mother quickly stands up and walks to her.

"You skipped class! All day, Sterling! Why didn't you just stay home?" The woman says in one breath.

The teen opens her mouth to answer, but she can't even say a word before her mother talks again.

"Where were you? What did you do? School has been over for more than an hour, why didn't you come back home until now?"

Sterling feels a little overwhelmed by all the questions thrown at her. She locks eyes with Blair.

_ Please help me out, I can't answer all these questions.  _ Sterling begs her sister through their twin link.

_ I got you.  _ Blair immediately answers before standing up and getting between Sterling and their mother. In that moment, Sterling breathes a sigh of relief; their link is intact.

"Can't you just calm down and let her breathe?"

"Don't talk to me like this Blair-" Their mother says, clearly upset.

"Honey, I think Blair might be right. Maybe we could just let Sterling breathe and-"

"And what?" Debbie harshly cuts off her husband. "Now we just let them do whatever they want? Is that what you want us to do Anderson?"

"No, of course not. I just thin-"

"I'm sorry about today!" Sterling shouts. "I'm sorry and it won't happen again. Everything got overwhelming today, but it will be fine tomorrow. I just needed to sort something out."

The blonde girl gently takes her sister's hand in hers before she starts pulling her towards the stairs. 

"I want to spend some time with Blair, and I'm kinda tired, so we'll just be in my room." 

"You didn't have dinner yet." Anderson protests.

"I ate today!"

She doesn't tell them that she had lots of frozen yogurt that day, they don't need to know that. 

Sterling immediately breathes easier when she steps into her room. This is her space, away from the outside world and the people in it. There's only her and Blair, her twin. 

Blair lets herself fall on Sterling's bed with a loud sigh. "Where the hell did you disappear to?"

Sterling shrugs. "I told you… I was at the frozen yogurt shop with Bowser."

Blair glares at her. "You left around 3pm. Bowser told me."

"Fine! I met April at Fun Zone after that." Sterling says after she rolled her eyes.

Blair frowns. "Wait. What? You met up with April. The girl you were hooking up with, who is now going out with Luke Creswell, your ex-boyfriend."

Sterling walks up to the bed and sits next to her sister. She doesn't speak for a long moment, because she truly doesn't know what to say. She's surprised when she starts crying, but quickly relieved when Blair pulls her down to lay on the bed with her. They cuddle in silence, and the brunette's hold is unwavering. 

* * *

When Sterling gets to school the next day, it doesn't take long before she hears the news. Luke and April are no longer a thing. She sees her ex-boyfriend mopping around at lunch, but she quickly avoids him. Sterling really doesn't need to hear him complain about every insignificant things he always whines about. 

Sterling manages to go through her day and it almost feels like before. It almost feels normal. She goes to her classes, takes notes and focuses on what the teachers have to say. She walks around school with Blair by her side. She even goes to the Fellowship meeting after class. 

When she sits down with the other members, Sterling makes eye contact with April for the first time that day. She knows the Stevens girl avoided her today, and if she's being honest, Sterling 

kinda missed her. 

If someone were to ask Sterling what was the talk of the day at Fellowship, she could not give them an answer. However, she could tell them how green April Stevens' eyes are today and how many times the girl played with her hair during the meeting. 

"Sterling and I can do it."

Sterling is shocked out of her reverie when she hears her name fall out of the mouth of the girl she likes. Her confusion makes her frown as she looks at April, hoping the girl would explain, but she only shrugs with a little smile. Blair gives Sterling a look as if to ask her if she should stay too, but the blonde twin quickly shakes her head. Everybody quickly exits the room, leaving April, Blair, Ellen and Sterling behind.

"I'll wait for you in the car, I guess… " Blair says with a sigh.

"No need, my dad is coming to pick me up, we can drive Sterling home."

"No!" Blair and Sterling say at the same time.

When the twins see the look of hurt on April's face, Sterling immediately feels bad.

"Blair and I had something planned. She can wait for me, don't worry."

April nods, but quickly looks away and starts placing the chairs in a circle as Blair leaves.

"Thank you so much for the help girls, I gotta run!" Ellen says as she leaves too. 

The girls work in silence for a couple of seconds, but there's a question burning Sterling's mind.

"Why did you volunteer the both of us to clean up the room?"

April stops her movements. "I… wanted to speak with you."

"Yet you've been silent ever since we've been alone."

"I don't know where to start." April quickly defends herself. "I- I broke things off with Luke."

"I heard." Sterling puts some things in the trash. "You did the right thing."

"I can't stop thinking about you."

Sterling turns around to face April. She studies the shorter girl's face for a long moment. The vulnerability and honesty she sees there gets her all choked up and ready to just kiss April again. 

But then, Sterling decides to wait. 

Wait and see if April will be brave enough to do something bold, or if her words will fall flat. 

She's not disappointed when April crashes their lips together soon after. 


End file.
